Podcasts about Portland Community College

The rise of Antisemitism on US college campuses continues to explode. Last week, Comesha Hart, an instructor at Portland Community College and nurse at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland, Oregon, was terminated from her employment because of violent threats against Jews.In an Instagram post, Comesha proclaimed her support for Hamas, confessed that she would never give medical attention to Jews because she “doesn't take care of animals,” stated that Jewish people are “vermin, dogs, and rats,” called for the destruction of Jews by saying “May they all meet their ancestors soon,” and justified the cold-blooded murder of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel at the hands of Hamas terrorists.Join Aaron and guest Dexter Van Zile, editor of Focus on Western Islamism at The Middle East Forum, in a discussion about the rise of hatred toward Jews in the US and the recent deportations of pro-Hamas US college students who are calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Jerome Gilgan grew up in a turbulent household marked by an abusive, alcoholic mother, two sisters, and the absence of a father figure. The emotional void and feelings of isolation from his upbringing drove Jerome to express his pain through violence—punching walls, getting into fights, and struggling academically. His school, eager to rid itself of a troublesome student, graduated him from 8th grade despite his failing grades. High school proved no different, and he was expelled after just eight months. Jerome's struggles escalated when tragedy struck. His cousin and closest friend, Michael, died in his arms—a devastating event that led Jerome to alcohol in a desperate attempt to numb the pain. By 14, he was using and selling marijuana, and his first arrest followed soon after. A second arrest at 15 led to an ultimatum: his mother kicked him out of the house. Homeless and hungry, Jerome resorted to breaking into homes to survive.   At 18, Jerome left New Jersey for Portland, hoping to evade the police and start fresh. Instead, he fell deeper into addiction, turning to methamphetamine. For 21 years, Jerome's life spiraled into chaos as he became entrenched in meth use, serving seven years in prison and three in jail for drug-related offenses. Despite going through four drug treatment programs, nothing seemed to help. Everything changed when Jerome was referred to the Men's Residential Center (MRC). Unlike previous programs, the MRC took a holistic approach, challenging Jerome to reevaluate his life and his self-worth.   “This program was different,” Jerome reflects. “It wasn't just about taking classes. It was about learning how to see life and myself through a new lens. I learned how to communicate and even went into schools to share my story and warn students about the dangers of drugs. For the first time, I felt like my life had a purpose and could positively impact others.”   In 2003, Jerome graduated from the MRC and has remained clean ever since. Motivated to give back, he accepted a job offer two years later as a residential counselor at the MRC. Jerome's determination didn't stop there—he graduated from Portland Community College in 2007 with honors and became a certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor. Today, he serves as the residential treatment supervisor at the MRC while pursuing a master's degree in social work at Portland State University, becoming the first person in recovery to hold a leadership role at the MRC.   “I owe my life to Greg Stone, the program director, and the MRC,” Jerome says with conviction. “My loyalty to the program is unwavering. All I want is to be part of it, to help save someone else, and to give others the same hope I was given.” ___ Find out more about Andrea Love, and her services here: andrea.love Find out more about The House of Healing & Love here: thehouseofhealing.love ___ All production by Cody Maxwell. sharkfyn.com Artwork by Heather Grace Gordy. Opening graphic assets by arakelov and Envato Elements.  

Welding education is experiencing a resurgence, with students more eager than ever to learn the trade. Matt Scott, a welding instructor from Portland Community College, shares his 30+ years of experience in training the next generation of welders and explains how the pandemic has reshaped both student engagement and the industry itself.In this episode, Matt talks about the post-pandemic shift in welding education, highlighting how today's students—especially Gen Z—are driven, hungry, and ready to enter the workforce. We discuss the evolution of welding programs, the importance of collaboration among students, and the growing demand for skilled welders across various industries. Matt also shares real success stories from his students, such as a young welder who made $15,000 by age 19, and explains how Portland Community College's state-of-the-art welding facility and mobile welding trailer are transforming the future of hands-on education.Highlights:Matt's journey from high school metal shop to a career in welding educationHow the pandemic has created a new level of enthusiasm in welding studentsThe vital role of teamwork and mentorship in the welding tradeInspiring success stories from Matt's studentsThe cutting-edge tools and programs at Portland Community College that are shaping the future of educationIf you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and leave a review to help others discover the show!Connect with Matt ScottLinkedInEmailConnect with us:Steve Doyle:WebsiteLinkedInEmailBrad Herda:WebsiteLinkedInEmailThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

For this episode, I interviewed Linda Tyler, a plant-based cooking instructor, cookbook author, and writer. Linda's book, the Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook, highlights the foods that are anti-inflammatory superstars in her 80 delicious plant-based recipes. Linda teaches cooking classes for the Portland Community College in Oregon and offers one-on-one plant-based lifestyle coaching.  You will learn: What is chronic inflammation How does inflammation affect us as we get older (inflammaging) How to reduce inflammation through diet What foods Linda recommends for menopause Linda's website:  https://www.graciousvegan.com/ Follow Linda on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/gracious_vegan/  Get my free Vegan Menopause 3-Day Meal Plan!   DISCLAIMER: This website's information is general in nature and for informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

  Linda Tyler Cooking Instructor and Cookbook Author Order The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook    Bio Linda Tyler is a plant-based cooking instructor, recipe developer, and writer. She teaches cooking classes for Portland Community College in Oregon and offers one-on-one plant-based lifestyle coaching. She has published recipes in vegan magazines and websites, articles on animal welfare issues, and is a frequent guest on Chef AJ Live on YouTube. She is the author of The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook. She is on the video review team for Nutritionfacts.org. For more information, see www.graciousvegan.com.   Social media links Website: http://www.graciousvegan.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/graciousvegan/   Instagram: @gracious_vegan   Pinterest: @graciousvegan   More information on my cookbook is available by clicking here.    

Jim Fasulo, academic advisor for healthcare and emergency professions pathways at Portland Community College discusses working with students in finding career pathways, the importance of career and technical education, and how cooperative education assists students with learning valuable skills.Read Jim's story in the NACADA Pocket Guide, Advising is Forever: Sharing Stories to Ignite (or Reignite) Your Advising Spirit!Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform!The X, Instagram, and Facebook handle for the podcast is @AdvisingPodcastAlso, subscribe to our Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!You can find Matt on Linkedin.

The Auto Care Association (ACA) CEO Bill Hanvey urges the industry to push Congress to advance the stalled Repair Act, and Braxton emphasizes the importance of using the provided link to contact representatives. Additionally, CarShield reaches a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over misleading advertising allegations, prompting the company to provide clearer information on covered repairs. Finally, Jay Kuykendall, an automotive instructor from Portland Community College, is named the 2024 Mitchell 1 Educator of the Year for his exceptional contributions to automotive education. Help the Repair Act get moving again! Thanks to our sponsor AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching! Schedule your free strategy session here: autofixautoshopcoaching.com

What does a mental health journey look like? How can art, music, and therapy bring us to better self understanding and self love? In this episode, Portland Community College student Jose Perez Salazar interviews Joaquin Lopez, one of the creative laureates of Portland, Oregon. They discuss the healing power of art, what it means to listen to your parents' music, and how Lopez found meaning in staging and singing Latino gay stories. This is our first conversation co-produced by a first-generation student. Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. Many thanks to Jose Perez Salazar for co-producing this episode with me. And huge thanks to Joaquin for this conversation, and for his beautiful music. This episode was recorded at Portland Community College and generously funded by the Zidell Family Foundation. Gregg Palmer did our post production. Music was composed and performed by Joaquin Lopez. Our executive producer is the undeniable Sankar Raman. For more stories, visit our website, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode in honor of Mother's Day, we revisit some clips from past All In podcast student guests who are moms. The host Marc Goldberg also interviews his own mom, Nancy Yelenik Goldberg, who describes her experience as a returning, parenting student at the local community college in the 1970's taking classes in the emerging field of computer science. She elaborates on the trailblazing career she had as as a programmer and eventual executive leader in the technology field and talks about the civic engagment she is involved in these days.  The first All In clip is from an early season one episode of the podcast during the pandemic with Nellisha Moore, a student from Chemeketa Community College. The next one is from a conversation with Cristina Cruz, an early childhood education career pathways student from Lane Community College. Following that are highlights from an interview with Shalease Williams from Portland Community College in season one. The  next clip is from Emily Geise, a graduate of Klamath Community College and employee of Cascade Comprehensive Care. Lastly, there are highlights from an interview with Lynne Hamblin, a student at Rogue Communtiy College. Each of these All In moms share different thoughts about the intersections between their community college experiences and their own children and families. The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon's participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

About the Guest(s): Meredith Villines has 20+ years of working in early care and education and is currently at the Oregon Department of Education in the Office of Enhancing Student Opportunities. Meredith's primary roles have been a classroom teacher in inclusive childcare and preschools, lead teacher in an Early Childhood Special Education classroom, Itinerant Special Early Childhood Education Teacher and Home Visitor, behavior specialist, trainer, and part-time faculty at Portland Community College.For the past 16 years, Autumn Belloni has focused intensively on working with children from birth to age five and their families and collaborating with staff and community providers who serve this population. Autumn serves as the Director of the Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Program for the Linn, Benton, Lincoln Education Service District. In this role, she oversees and guides various aspects of special education and inclusive practices, leveraging her background as a speech/language pathologist and lead teacher in Early Childhood Special Education settings.Episode Summary: Meredith Villines and Autumn Belloni uncover the strides Oregon has taken toward setting a standard for inclusivity in early education, highlighting the shared belief in the importance of inclusive education right from the onset of a child's educational journey. Autumn and Meredith delve into Oregon's program structure, explaining how nine regions collaborate to provide seamless services for children birth through five and the supportive role of the Oregon Department of Education in fostering these initiatives. They also share valuable revelations on the impact of inclusive settings on children's learning and development, emphasizing the resultant gain in language skills, peer relationships, and teacher growth when children with disabilities are included in general education classrooms.Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/quZESXyivM-ZWkldeBuUiOaGNw4Key Takeaways:Early childhood inclusion in Oregon is experiencing a dynamic shift, pushing the boundaries of traditional special education practices to foster a more inclusive environment for all young learners.Both speakers stress that inclusive education benefits not just the children experiencing disabilities, but also their typically developing peers, families, and the broader community.The Oregon Department of Education has been pivotal in providing direction and support for inclusion initiatives, further enhancing the efficacy of programs at the community level.The partnership between Oregon and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center to implement inclusive practices is a notable example of how collaborative efforts can result in significant progress.Personal stories and experiences shared by the guests underscore the real-life impact of inclusion policies on children and their families, cementing the argument for inclusive education.Resources:Oregon Early Childhood Inclusion: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/specialeducation/earlyintervention/pages/oeci.aspxPolicy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs: https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/policy-statement-on-inclusion-11-28-2023.pdfMCIE: https://mcie.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Community Possibilities, Kali Thorne Ladd, Executive Director of the Children's Institute joins me. Kali shares her journey from passionate classroom teacher to a visionary leader, driving policy change to bolster the well-being of children and, subsequently, Oregon communities. I first learned about the Children's Institute when I saw a video sponsored by the Ford Family Foundation about the transformation of the Yoncalla Elementary School.  Yoncalla School District leaders and community members, including parents of young children, worked together to reinvent the elementary school's approach to family and child support. The school now is thriving, drawing families from across the region. By nurturing genuine partnerships in communities like Yoncalla, the Children's Institute has catalyzed impressive strides in school attendance and literacy rates, demonstrating the unique power rural areas hold in shaping the future of young children. We talk about the synergies of health services and education through shared leadership and the innovative concept of universal home visiting in Oregon. Kali shares insights on integrating healthcare into schools and strategies for overcoming obstacles that hinder a child's ability to thrive in school. We reflect on the power of cross-sector collaboration and the universal appeal of early childhood issues to unify across political divides. Tune in for an episode that's not just a conversation but a call to action, one that champions the collective responsibility we share in nurturing the potential of our youngest community members.Kaili's Bio: Previously, Thorne Ladd was the co-founder and executive director of KairosPDX, a culturally specific organization dedicated to eliminating educational opportunity and achievement gaps for historically underserved children. Through that work, and as a visionary leader in multiple capacities in the region, Thorne Ladd has a long track record of working to transform early learning and healthy development for children and families in Oregon. This has included serving as the chair of the board for Portland Community College, serving on Governor Brown's Early Learning Council, and serving on the board at the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation based in Portland. Kali worked on education strategies in the mayor's office in the City of Portland and at the Oregon Department of Education. She holds a MA in education policy from Harvard University and a BA in elementary education and psychology from Boston College.Show Links:Kali's Email: kali@childinst.orgLike what you heard? Please like and share wherever you get your podcasts! Connect with Ann: Community Evaluation Solutions How Ann can help: · Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization. · Help you create a strategic plan that doesn't stress you and your group out, doesn't take all year to design, and is actionable. · Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations. · Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving. · Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action. · Speak at your conference or event. Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful. Community Possibilities is Produced by Zach Price Music by Zach Price: Zachpricet@gmail.com

Stephen is a Manufacturing Equipment Technician (MET) at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon. Stephen discusses his journey from Minneapolis to working at Intel and shares insights into his day-to-day responsibilities involving the maintenance and troubleshooting of equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing. Stephen talks about shift schedules, salary ranges, professional growth opportunities, and the importance of communication and safety in his job. Stephen also shares advice for individuals considering a career transition into the semiconductor industry.The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.Links from the show:Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/Portland Community College: https://www.pcc.edu/Jobs at Intel: https://jobs.intel.com/

Register for my free weight loss summit: https://bit.ly/chefaj2024 PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK SWEET INDULGENCE!!! https://www.amazon.com/Chef-AJs-Sweet-Indulgence-Guilt-Free/dp/1570674248 or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144514092?ean=9781570674242 Save Your Receipt! We will be offering bonuses for pre-orders ASAP. GET MY FREE INSTANT POT COOKBOOK: https://www.chefaj.com/instant-pot-download ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MY LATEST BESTSELLING BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570674086?tag=onamzchefajsh-20&linkCode=ssc&creativeASIN=1570674086&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice. The content of this podcast is provided for informational or educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health issue without consulting your doctor. Always seek medical advice before making any lifestyle changes. Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1510777350?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzchefajsh-20&creativeASIN=1510777350&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Linda Tyler is a plant-based cookbook author, cooking instructor, and blogger. All of today's recipes (Eggplant Parmesan Stacks, Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms and Pine Nuts, and Orange-Ginger Polenta Cake) are available in The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook, which you can order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Indiebound.org or find in Costco and other brick-and-mortar stores. In the cookbook, you'll learn what inflammation is and how to eat and cook with grocery-store foods to decrease inflammatory activity in your body. Use the recipes to create dishes you love. From breakfasts and beverages to vegetables, grains, entrees, desserts, and more, these recipes use affordable anti-inflammatory superstars to promote health while delighting your taste buds. Cooking classes: Linda teaches plant-based cooking classes for Portland and Mt. Hood Community Colleges in Oregon. The classes are online and open to everyone. In addition to her cook-along classes, she offers one-on-one plant-based lifestyle coaching through Portland Community College. Upcoming class descriptions are available here. Website: Through her website, www.graciousvegan.com, Linda shares healthy plant-based recipes and answers to common questions about plant-based cooking. She uses no oil, refined grains, full-fat coconut milk, or refined sugar in her recipes, and she provides answers to questions such as “What's Wrong with Oil?” and “What is Water-Sauté?” Writing: Linda has published numerous recipes in the Vegan Journal, written guest blogs for Faunalytics.org, published articles on animal welfare issues) for LA Progressive, Sentient Media, and Citizen Truth), and demonstrated plant-based recipes on local TV in Portland. She is a long-time volunteer for Nutritionfacts.org and is currently on the video review team. Connect with Linda on: Website: www.graciousvegan.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/graciousvegan/ Email: graciousvegan@gmail.com Instagram: @gracious_vegan

Caffeinators, we talk about veterinary technician education all the time, but we don't often get to talk to the stakeholders-the students. Our next two episodes focus on that. First up is Sydney Hoevet, a student in the vet tech program at Portland Community College. It's always refreshing to look at our profession through fresh, less jaded eyes than our own. It's also really nice to hear the profession seems to be in good hands going forward. In this episode, we talk about a common link between Sydney and a previous Vet Tech Cafe guest that we didn't know about, what veterinary technician curriculum currently looks like and some of the struggles vet tech students face. A fun "aside" in this episode is that her twin sister is in human medicine and wanting to go to human nursing school and we talk about some of the similarities and differences there too! Show Links: https://www.pawteam.org/ https://go.atdove.org/technicians/ https://www.wildwoodfarmsanctuary.org/ Our Links: Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/ Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do.

The Plant-Based Bundle: 130+ ebooks and courses. $3,500+ total value. Only $50. Expires 11/27/23. https://bit.ly/chefajplantbasedbundle GET MY FREE INSTANT POT COOKBOOK: https://www.chefaj.com/instant-pot-download ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MY LATEST BESTSELLING BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570674086?tag=onamzchefajsh-20&linkCode=ssc&creativeASIN=1570674086&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice. The content of this podcast is provided for informational or educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health issue without consulting your doctor. Always seek medical advice before making any lifestyle changes. Linda Tyler is a plant-based cookbook author, cooking instructor, and blogger. To get the packet of ideas and recipes discussed and demonstrated on this show, click here: https://www.graciousvegan.com/get-thanksgiving-leftovers-packet To find out more about pre-ordering Linda's cookbook and getting the bonuses, click here: https://www.graciousvegan.com/cookbook-pre-order-and-bonuses Cooking classes: Linda teaches plant-based cooking classes for Portland and Mt. Hood Community Colleges in Oregon. The classes are online and open to everyone. In addition to her cook-along classes, she offers one-on-one plant-based lifestyle coaching through Portland Community College. Upcoming class descriptions are available here: https://www.graciousvegan.com/classes Cookbook: Linda is the author of the cookbook The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook: Delicious Whole-Food Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Promote Health, to be released in February 2024. You can pre-order the book now and get exclusive bonuses that will not be available after the book is released (an e-book with 10 dessert recipes, an e-book with meal plans, two mini-posters, and five video recipe demonstrations). Click here to find out more about pre-ordering the cookbook and getting the bonuses: https://www.graciousvegan.com/cookbook-pre-order-and-bonuses Website: Through her website, https://www.graciousvegan.com/, Linda shares healthy plant-based recipes and answers to common questions about plant-based cooking. She uses no oil, refined grains, full-fat coconut milk, or refined sugar in her recipes, and she provides answers to questions such as “What's Wrong with Oil?” https://www.graciousvegan.com/blogs/2021/3/6/whats-wrong-with-oil and “What is Water-Sauté?” https://www.graciousvegan.com/blogs/2021/3/6/eqzoo5eng7w48yiu0zc3yrcpf1inao Writing: Linda has published numerous recipes in the Vegan Journal, written guest blogs for Faunalytics.org, published articles on animal welfare issues) for LA Progressive, Sentient Media, and Citizen Truth), and demonstrated plant-based recipes on local TV in Portland. She is a long-time volunteer for Nutritionfacts.org and is currently on the video review team. Connect with Linda on: Website: www.graciousvegan.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/graciousvegan/ Email: graciousvegan@gmail.com

Alfredo Moreno, Community Relations Manager at PCC shares how after being open for about a year after the COVID-19 pandemic, PCC is looking to expand its enrollment, get community feedback, and once again become a thriving center of affordable education in Newberg. We also discuss the history of PCC, its role in our community, what role community colleges play in education as well as his thoughts on what the future holds.If you would like to learn more about PCC Newberg, would like to provide course recommendations, or are interested in teaching a course, you can contact Alfredo at alfredo.moreno1@pcc.edu.If you're interested in getting each episode sent to your inbox when it comes out,  you can subscribe here.This episode is brought to you by The Joyful Roberts Group, a local family-run real estate team led by Daniel Roberts. To learn more about the Living in Newberg YouTube Channel, click the link above.Support the show

Janaki is a Equipment Engineering Technician at Analog Devices in Beaverton, OR outside Portland. Janaki had a career in small business, but needed to make a change. Hear how Janaki transitioned to working in the semiconductor industry by enrolling in Portland Community College's Microelectronics Program.The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.Links from the show:Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/Portland Community College Microelectronics Program: https://www.pcc.edu/programs/microelectronics/Analog Devices: https://www.analog.com/en/about-adi/careers.html

Joining Carol in the studio today is Sabrina Cunliffe, Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) Grant Manager, with Oregon General. Find out how Oregon General has tackled some challenging cultural issues and is starting to see great results with their strategy for implementing the DIF grant through their Inclusive Career Advancement Program.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Speaker1: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management, Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: Welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today is Sabrina Cunliffe Disability Innovation Fund, Inclusive Career Advancement Program Manager, or DIF grant manager for short with Oregon General. So Sabrina, how are things going in Oregon?   Sabrina: Oh gosh. Oregon has five seasons, fall, winter, spring, summer and fire season. So it is currently fire season. It looks like a little post-apocalyptic nightmare outside right now, but other than that, we're doing really well.   Carol: I'm sorry to hear that, though. There's been a lot of the wildfires this year that have been so devastating.   Sabrina: Absolutely.   Carol: Well, I'm really glad you're here today. And I just want to take a couple of minutes to give our listeners a little bit of background on the Disability Innovation Fund grants. And so in this particular round, grant activities are geared to support innovative activities aimed at improving outcomes of individuals with disabilities and the Career the Advancement Initiative model demonstration. And these were funded in FY 2021 were intended to identify and demonstrate practices that are supported by evidence to assist eligible individuals with disabilities, including previously served VR participants in employment who reenter the program to do kind of four of the following things to advance in high demand, high quality careers like science, technology, engineering and math, or those Stem careers, to enter career pathways in industry driven sectors through pre apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships and industry recognized apprenticeship programs, to improve and maximize their competitive integrated employment outcomes, economic self-sufficiency, independence and inclusion in society, and to reduce the reliance on public benefits like SSI and SSDI and or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Now I remember reading the application and kind of the notice and all of that, and there was really actually some disturbing data that provided the base for RSA and why this particular area was chosen to fund. And they were looking at the program year 2019, RSA 911 data, and it said things like this, like approximately 80% of the participants were earning less than 17 bucks an hour. And in fact, participants who exited the program in competitive integrated employment reported a median wage of 12 bucks an hour and median hours at 30 hours a week. And the ten most common occupations that were reported by one third of the participants who exited in CIE were stock clerks and order fillers, customer service reps, janitors, laborers, stack material movers, retail salespersons, cashiers, food prep survey, including fast food production workers and dishwashers. It's that whole food, filth, kind of the flowers thing I used to call it. And I know they probably were focusing on career pathways because RSA had also done a competition back in 2015 and they awarded for career pathways for individuals with Disabilities projects under a demonstration training program. And furthermore, Congress made career pathways a necessary, if not foundational, part of WIOAs workforce reform. And so you put all of this together just to put a little under our belt, I just wanted people to have a little bit of a base. Like, what on earth are they picking and why are they doing this? So let's dig in and learn more about you in the project. So can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what your journey was getting to VR?   Sabrina: Sure, Carol. I started out going to college, majoring in business, working in the corporate world, doing that sort of thing, did that for several years, and then life sort of caught up with me. And I had children and my second child was born with cerebral palsy. And when that happens, it kind of changes your whole view on the world and you start to find out about disability in a way that you never really knew, and you really dig into the systems that exist and see what's available for your people in the world. And what I saw was, you know, the long trajectory of my son's life. And I decided, hey, you know what? I'm going to leave the corporate gig behind. I'm going to go back to graduate school, study disability awareness, study disability services ended up leading to rehab counseling, became a rehab counselor in the state of Oregon in 2009 and then was a branch manager starting in 2013. And then just about a year and a half ago, signed up to take on this innovation grant so that I can maybe change the system from the inside out a little bit was really what happened for me and why VR is so important and critical?   Carol: I love your story because we all come with these different stories and how we got involved in this field and some people fall into it a variety of different ways. But I really like your journey and I think it'll give our listeners a great perspective as they hear you because it's super fun, your passion and and all of that. So can you give us some facts too, about Oregon General? Like how many staff and customers do you have?   Sabrina: Yeah, so we have approximately 275 employees in Oregon that work for Oregon General, and we serve roughly 10,000 customers annually. I would say it used to be a lot more pre-pandemic than it is now or working through that. And we serve customers across 13 individual VR branch offices. So there's 13 branches, 20 offices throughout the state. Oregon has four very distinct economies that are geologically diverse and geographically diverse. We have that Oregon, Portland metro area, and then we have very much rural eastern Oregon and we have the coast and then the southern Willamette Valley and southern Oregon regions. So it's sort of like working in four different states all at the same time in a lot of ways.   Carol: I didn't realize that about Oregon. I was thinking about it. I knew you had some sort of rural nature, but really thinking about those four different distinct areas, that does always pose a big challenge, I'm sure, with both staffing and just as far as getting service provision.   Sabrina: Right, running a statewide program and trying to make it locally based and locally run and locally honored can have its own special challenges for sure.   Carol: Absolutely. So what prompted Oregon General to apply for this grant?   Sabrina: So you may or may not know that Oregon had probably the worst, if not the second worst. We might have been the second worst as far as data in that RSA911 that they based these grants on for measurable skill gains and credential attainment just in the tank, really. And it's something that that we knew that we needed to change for WIOA 2014. And we just never really got with the program in changing the culture of VR to really talk about optimal level of employment and to fully bring post-secondary education into the fold to get those credentials and those Measurable Skill Gains that we needed. And in Oregon, we have this beautiful, robust, existing career pathway system within Oregon's community colleges with hundreds of different career pathways nationally recognized that VR was completely under utilizing. And so what a great opportunity for us to partner with Oregon community colleges and change the culture of Oregon VR, really to see post-secondary education as a gateway to optimal level of employment that we needed to be focusing on.   Carol: Well, the only place to go is up then, from where you were. No. You know, when you start kind of in the basement, you're like, all right...  Well, we're climbing out of it. Good on you. So can you give us a big overview of the project? I know you have these different arms of things you wanted to do.   Sabrina: So ICAP - Inclusive Career Advancement Program is what we named our grant, and it supports a minimum of 500 people with disabilities, including those from marginalized communities. So 45% from black, indigenous, people of color communities in Oregon to help them choose a career pathway of interest, access post-secondary education, participate in that training or the internships in those high demand career fields. Obtain the credentials in their career field that's chosen, and then to also help them gain the employment upon completion of their program and we're doing that through installing a career coach in 16 of the community colleges across Oregon. So in one FTE position at the college, that's the boots on the ground person to be that conduit between the counselor and the community college. And the difference between this mean you might see navigators with Department of Labor or with all sorts of other different programs. But what's different about ICAP is that that career coach is specifically trained around people with disabilities, the specific needs of people with disabilities, really looking at the intersectionality of race and disability, of poverty and disability and all of those things that often people with disabilities don't have success or as much success with those other navigators because very specific disability barriers are lost on them. And so huge emphasis on that. We have four core partners. It's Oregon VR, it's the main grantee, and then we have Portland Community College, which is a Subawardee that manages all of the individual sub grants with each individual community college. And then we have Oregon Commission for the Blind because we wanted the Oregon Commission for the Blind to have their participants be able to participate in our program as well. We have two of them already, which is fantastic. And then Cornell University or the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, there are evaluation partner and also our training and provider for this grant.   Carol: I'm so glad that you partnered too, with your blind agency. Sometimes we've got states where you know you're both there, but it's not always good communication between you, so that is great.   Sabrina: And then we just have the GEPRAs. I just wanted to touch on those real quick so people know what we're measuring. We're 500 people is the target of those 45% need to be from black, indigenous and people of color communities. So that'd be 225. We need to have 375 of those that start finish and of those 375 that get a credential, we need another 75% of those to actually get competitive, integrated employment within the span of the grants timeframe. And then 75 Percent of those people to get hourly wage gains, 50% of those to get employer provided medical benefits. 65% of those also need to increase the hours that they worked from whenever they came in to whenever they left. And then we need to also track if anybody got a promotion or any additional responsibilities or anything like that between when they get the job and when the grant ends. And then also reporting about whether or not they are receiving less or no public benefits with 35% hopefully having their competitive integrated employment be their primary source of support.   Carol: So you're going big or going...   Sabrina: Big or go home. Exactly.   Carol: That's right. So what are you seeing as the biggest challenges?   Sabrina: Oh, gosh. When we decided to do this innovation grant, we could have gone two ways. We could have had ICAP be separate and apart and ran it completely independently of the larger program. And we decided not to do that. We decided to fully integrate it into the existing program. All ICAP participants must be VR participants. All VR counselors can work with ICAP participants, no specialization of any kind. So we needed to completely train the entire staff about this cultural shift, about what it means to have optimal level of employment, to teach them how to write post-secondary ed plans that work, how to do the comprehensive assessment in a way that we're really, truly looking at interest, ability, skills, resources, priorities, concerns all through an informed choice lens and making optimal level of employment happen. And not just for lack of a better term, McJobbing people left and right and hiring job developers and punting and seeing how it goes for folks. And so that is our innovation for our grant. It doesn't sound like much, but it's huge for us to be able to do that work. And so, of course, the first challenge we have is the amount of time it takes for someone to become a participant. It's not like we could just sign them up for ICAP. They had to go get in line at VR, and in Oregon, Sometimes that can take up to three months. By the time they get asked, call the office, ask for an intake, meet with the counselor, found eligible for our services. And when you're working with particularly youth and students that are going from high school and potentially entering a career pathway, they might decide that they want to start a career pathway two weeks beforehand. And so our system and the career pathway system had to really say, we need to look at this, right? We're starting to really pay attention as an agency to figure out what several other states are doing. Some states are finding people eligible within three days or 17 days. And we're looking at all of those different ways in which we can change that. That's a larger process that's going to have to happen. But what the ICAP Grant did was really shine a light on it and gave us some really cool data of something that everybody knew but that nobody had really codified in writing and reported to the RSA. And so here we are. That challenge has been identified and it's definitely something that we're going to have to address. We've, of course made lots of little shortcut solutions in there to address the ICAP grant. But as far as the larger program, it's kind of front and center. Now that particular issue. The second biggest challenge that we have is that while we thought we had a great post-secondary ed policy, what we found out that it was really how to rule people out, not how to rule people in policy, and it created an exorbitant amount of red tape for counselors. No counselor wanted to do it because it was an extra three hours worth of work with a participant. Right. Who would want to go through all these checklists and make sure all of these things are in place and fight these fights with the financial aid offices and do all of this stuff that was required in our policy that just seemed like we're going to figure out every way to not support post-secondary ed. So one of the first things that we did was identify that and we completely rewrote our post-secondary ed policy, took out all of the language that you shall and you must and made it seem very inclusive. And you know what? Tell us what you want to do. Let's figure out what supports you need so that you can be successful. We're going to do that and we're going to remove all that paperwork piece for the VRC to be able to feel confident in doing that. And we also had these things with every branch manager, had to approve every plan that a counselor wrote for any post-secondary ed that was removed completely. And it's given autonomy and trust to the counselor to make these judgments that they need to make in their jobs. And so that just came out a week and a half ago, though. So we haven't seen the impact of it yet completely. But one of the most exciting challenges and solutions that we've had to date, what's great, we have Cornell University on doing our and training. We've probably done over 50 trainings in the last year and a half, really looking at the discernment for appropriate use of training through an what does that mean for someone and how do we write those plans? Just creating fake plans, really. I have plans, samples that are like for IB CAPPY so counselors know how to reflect the services and the plan. They know how to write them effectively. They know how to really understand. And their decision making and how to have those critical thinking moments and how to have the conversations with the client that are more appropriate when you have a lot of counselors that have been discouraged for years from doing this work. It can be kind of scary as they learn these new steps and when people kind of make decisions out of fear, they do it either with, Oh, you can do whatever you want and there's no accountability. That's probably half the VRCs, and the other half is, No, you can't do this because I need to have control over this and make sure that I can control the outcome, right? So finding that middle ground, empowering clients, empowering VRCs to do the work has been absolutely huge. We'll be ongoing for the duration of the program and then lack of equitable workflow for coaches. So we were silly kind of when we designed this in the beginning and we didn't realize that there are 17 community colleges in Oregon, but they are vastly different in their capacity. And so we started out with everybody is going to serve, you know, the same amount of participants in the grant and what we found out, that's not going to work because Portland Community College, you know, has seven campuses within the Portland metro area and has 30 different VRCs that are referring to the program. We're out in eastern Oregon. There's two VRCs and one community college with only 14 career pathways, right? So we couldn't expect the same result from rural schools as we have from metro schools. And so really not looking at it through an equality lens, but an equitable lens for our performance measures through each of the individual community colleges is something that we're doing when we start serving students at the beginning of this year. And hopefully that will give our numbers more meaning and have people feel more respected in where they're at and what they can actually do.   Carol: Well, I love that you're digging into these very tough challenges, and I know things like our policies and procedures, words do matter. I mean, it sets a tone for your counselors. And we've seen this with lots of states. When we do TA work, you know, people will be like, thou shalt not, you know, and everything that the customer has to do and we will not pay for this or do this. And you have to prove yourself and all of that. When you flip all those words around, it does send a message, even if it's subliminally to those people that are reading it can just see that in other states you see this cultural shift happening because you're looking at this more positively. You're focusing more on like a person's strengths instead of all the reasons they can't do something. I think digging in and all your kind of warts, so to speak.   Sabrina: Yeah. And to watch someone go from having a process driven agency to a people driven agency just warms my heart. It just feels really good.   Carol: See, that's all you West Coast folks, because Joe Xavier started the charge with that because he's like, We're not going to let the paperwork get in the way of the people. Like we got to remember the people are here first. And so you're picking up on that, too. And you also have created new acronyms with the IBCAPPY or whatever. That is very cool. So obviously you've got all these things, you're digging in and you're doing this stuff, but how like I know you said you wanted everybody in the organization to be able to do this, so you didn't keep this all separate. But structurally, organizationally, I'm sure people are sitting out there thinking, okay, Sabrina, there's you, do you have a team of people? Like, how are you structurally carrying this off?   Sabrina: When you look at our key personnel for the grant, I left my cushy branch manager job and took a limited duration job to do this. Not much of a pay raise at all, but I believed in it so much. That's how I got here. And then I have a communication specialist. That's Jen Munson. She sort of runs all of the communication and all of the outreach activities. Really in lots of communications we have organizationally is a community of practices, so local community of practices and statewide community of practices. And so she makes sure that those are happening. And then I have a data analyst and their job is to extract all of that 911 data for ICAP participants to work really well with Cornell and their evaluation team, making sure that they get the data that they need. And then just giving us kind of a daily update on all of the data that's happening and where we need to be focusing so that we can stay really data informed as we move forward and continue to innovate the grant. So there's three FTEs with the grant and then there's a project manager for 0.2 or 0.3 FTE. I have a project manager that is worth their weight in gold. They write our huge project plan, develop all of our buckets, tell us all of the different work that needs to be happening in those buckets. By when mean don't wake up a single day without knowing exactly what I need to do that day and why and how it needs to happen and when it needs to be done by. So it creates a very proactive approach to managing the grant through this project management lens that we have. And then of course, we have our deputy director who's overseeing the entire grant at 0.2 FTE of her salary is dedicated to this grant for the duration of the grant. So that is how we're structured internally. And then of course, we meet with branch managers, get an ICAP FaceTime with me for an hour once a month, and there are multiple opportunities to our communication system on the side that we're able to distribute information and keep people up to date on what's happening.   Carol: So you do not have an army, I mean like you're really literally talking about 3.5 FTEs?   Sabrina: Yes   Carol: And you're making miracles happen, like you're changing the world with three and a half people. You know, I know sometimes states think like, oh, we don't have enough people, We can't do the thing, We need this and that. But like, you are making it happen with a really minimal staff investment. But it is shifting all this thinking and shifting the ways that the agency is operating. That is very interesting.   Sabrina: Yeah, it has the love, though, of the entire exec team of Oregon VR. We couldn't do it, just the three of us. If Keith and Heather and all of the other people that do all of the instrumental things that are happening in VR, if there was infighting about the direction that we needed to go culturally, it'd be a much different situation. But we are united in our thinking and our belief system about where our agency needs to go. And so I think we get a lot of free labor actually from whether it's our youth manager or policy manager, our business and operations manager, probably not a single person in VR that hasn't helped us in some level or another. Also, so don't want to make it sound like just the three of us pulled this off.   Carol: Yeah, you do have a really good exec team because Keith is great, like Keith and Heather. I know those guys and they're very invested. And especially as you talk about like wanting to change the culture and making significant impact, like go big or go home. I love that. I love that. So I know you said some of the activities, you know, you were out you did like 50 trainings and all of that. What are some of those other activities like specifically you're carrying out? Because I'm sure people are thinking like, oh, my gosh, you have this huge project. And when you were listing like all of the kind of the metrics that you want to accomplish, it sounded like this massive word problem. So if we were in Chicago leaving on the train and then we hit New York, you know, like how many people are on the train now, all of that. But gosh, like, how do you start this?   Sabrina: So the interesting thing about a DIF grant is that you find out you're getting the grant and then two days later you get this money, right? And don't know about you. But in state government around here, it takes about six months to write a position description, get it approved, post the position, get the positions, go through the hiring process, and then start dates and then onboarding. And so while the grant started in October of what, 21 is that it? 22?   Carol: Yeah.   Sabrina: Yeah. I wasn't hired until the next end of April. And so there was a large chunk of time where there was a whole bunch of work happening on the background when people could, when they weren't trying to run Oregon General at the same time, but also trying to get the people hired to do the work. And then we also needed to hire all of the career coaches at all of the community colleges and the infrastructure within Portland Community College to manage those career coaches. And so all of that took the first 9 to 10 months of the grant where we weren't really drawing down hardly any funds, and it made the people who monitored the drawdowns very nervous. And so that clock starting immediately, just be aware of that, right? It might be a five year innovation fund grant, but you're really not going to start to serve the participants. And we were lucky we were able to start serving them at the end of year one probably had about 19 or 20 participants then, but lots of DIF grants even struggled even more than we did with getting those people hired and into those positions. And then we created a framework, is really was the first thing that I did whenever I came was say, okay, this is the framework document, this is what we're doing, this is how we're going to structure our community of practices. This is how we're going to communicate with each other. This is how we're going to get everyone on the same page. This is how we're going to delineate workflow between what's a VRCs responsibility, what's a career coach's responsibility, what's everyone else's responsibility? And really talk about that. Educate all of the VRCs on what career pathways are, how to access them, how to contact them, develop the referral processes that needed to be developed for those, we needed to update some policies we're doing that. We'll continue to do that and then develop statewide community of practices in addition to the local community of practices and calendaring. All of those sorts of things is really how you get started is just map it out, sit down and go, okay, this is where we want to be. Work backwards from there. Get your project manager in, create your work buckets and get to work.   Carol: You made such a good point. I think people don't realize that. So for our listeners, you know, as you're thinking about the DIF and people that have been part of one, they'll realize we've heard it over and over, man, that first year. It does not go like you think because it takes forever for every state government, you know, to get rolling with getting those positions hired and all of that. So you've got that pile of money sitting there and then you're going, Oh my gosh. I mean, we're just trying to get the people on board and get rolling. So that is good advice. Just to remind people, it takes, takes a bit to get going. So I know you are starting to already see some initial results. What are you seeing?   Sabrina: Let's see. We have about 140 students enrolled now. Ten folks have already received their career pathway certificate, which is fantastic, which means they're in the looking for a job stage. We're about two months behind on the reports that we get from the community college. So actually, there might be people out there that have a job. I just can't tell you that for sure because I don't have it in writing yet. About 58% of our ICAP students are youth, which is fantastic, and 37% of those youth population are from the BIPOC community. And so what we're noticing is that we have a lot more success if we focus on youth and career pathways than if we are looking to people who are needing to change careers for whatever reason. We need to find out more about that. But as far as our referral process is concerned, really working with our youth partners to pull this off I think is going to be instrumental that we didn't realize we needed such an emphasis on when we started. We have ICAP students are enrolled in 75 different unique educational pathways. Right now, 75 we have 58% of the VRCs in the state have at least one ICAP participant. We have that much penetration with VR staff, which warms my heart because we were worried about that. But we'd love it to be 70 by the end of this. So if you were to combine all the college credits that our ICAP students are currently taking, they're currently taking over 4000 college credits, according to my little data analyst told me this morning. So they're doing it.   Carol: Good stuff. That's good stuff that's happening. I love to hear it. So now that's the happy news. What are some of these speed bumps that you've hit along the way?   Sabrina: The biggest one is that in our $18 million grant, 2.3 million of that is supposed to be spent on client service dollars, right? Tuition fees, books and supplies. And what we're finding is there are so many comparable benefits out there. And how we're structured with comparable benefits in VR doesn't do anybody any favors. And so when we're getting their Pell Grants or their Oregon Opportunity grants or their SNAP grants, there's so many. When Oregon is the last payer that US spending that $2.3 million and doing it within regional and policy has been really, really challenging. And so that'll be interesting to see how it is that we can maybe change that or shift that or find ways to braid services more effectively with all of these other different grant opportunities because they're the last pair to they're just less cumbersome than VR is in order to do that. And just some more of that ancient thinking on the part of VR as we only pay after we've made sure everybody else is paid right, What might that look like if we were a little less stringent? And then of course, our big, big giant speed bumps were around Measurable Skill Gain Credential Attainment. The nuts and bolts of that we found out, is really how we were capturing that data in our aware program. And the translation is, is we weren't. And so hence the...   Carol: Reason you were in the basement.   Sabrina: Right? So we had to completely look at how we had those screens developed on our educational goal screen in Orca. And like so many late nights of Heather and I watching videos from Missouri General on how they did it right and looking at that and then rebuilding that entire part of our Orca system, Orca meaning AWARE system so that we could capture that data and have it be accurate because it's not that Oregon wasn't doing MSGs and credential attainment. We just never wrote it down. And so we had to train staff about what those are. We had to create procedures and have those in place for how to do the data entry. And we actually had to build the infrastructure back so that it would actually report correctly on our 911 reports. So that was a huge undertaking of I'll sleep when I'm dead kind of activities that needed to happen to pull this off.   Carol: Holy cow. I like it when you get you did your voice as your stringent voice. Oh my gosh. So I know you also have had you are not shy for all our listeners. I mean, Sabrina and I had chatted a little bit ago and super cracked up because you are definitely one to say what's on your mind. And so I know you made some interesting observations since you started leading this project. What are some of your ideas you thought should change?   Sabrina: Oh, that's the if you could change the world, Sabrina, what would it be question? Oh, this is just Sabrina talking, not saying anything. But if I could, we all know how poverty and disability go hand in hand. Same outcome results since the 80s. What's going on? Where's the juggernaut? Guys, we have the ability to fix this and it all comes down to post-secondary ed and our unmet need problem that we have, how we take their Pell grants and we skim right off the top and we do tuition fees, books and supplies off of their Pell grant. If nationally, we could find a way to take that Pell grant and let them use that for poverty based stuff housing, food, all their disability related stuff that we can't pay for or that they don't know how to report. Just let them have their Pell grants to live on and. We covered tuition fees, books and supplies. In addition to that, it would be life altering and life changing to the poverty cycle. We continue to find people with disabilities in in America, but that can only change with big time people that have, you know, some sort of sway in how it is that Pell Grants are administered and approved. And think under the Department of Ed, they could really work together in a great way to recognize participants in a different way. With Pell Grants, let us do the tuition fees, books and supplies, allow those Pell Grants to serve the people from their poverty lens. Huge opportunity there. That I think would really take a lot of fear. And the struggle I mean, you know, it a person with a disability doesn't have the option of working three hours in the evening while going to school full time. It takes them 2.5 hours to get dressed in the morning. It takes them another three hours to work with their adaptive equipment to write that paper. It's not apples to apples. It doesn't need to be apples to apples. And we have an opportunity to recognize that. And change the unmet need calculations for VR or change how Pell Grants are interpreted by VR. That's my biggest dream. It would change so many lives.   Carol: That is excellent. I know one of my colleagues, DJ Ralston, does a lot of training around disability and poverty and how it goes hand in hand, and I think we don't talk about it enough in VR. It's like we somehow think all of that's superfluous, like it's out to the side and but it's so intricately intertwined with the person because if you don't have food and you don't have a house, how are you...   Sabrina: You're not going to go to school.   Carol: How are you going to school and where are you plugging in your laptop? You know, you can only be at Starbucks so long in a day.   Sabrina: Or if you're  housing is tied to those benefits that are tied to a poverty cycle.   Carol: Yeah.   Sabrina: Yeah. No , can't do it. Yeah, So much fear around that.   Carol: Do you have any other thoughts on changing the world?   Sabrina: I have so many thoughts on changing the world, but that's the one that. That's the one that I probably have the okay to talk about.   Carol: Yeah. We don't want to get you off the grant now. So one of the other things that's interesting is that the DIF grants are a discretionary grant. So when we get our VR or 110 dollars, it's a VR formula grant. What kind of challenges have you faced in managing this discretionary grant versus, you know, the typical VR funding?   Sabrina: I would say it's constantly managing and balancing the funds and the report writing requirements of the grant. I don't think anybody knew what that was all about. Whenever we signed up to do this, it's pretty heavy. We have, you know, monthly reports that we need to write, monthly calls with that we need to attend quarterly, meetings with other DIF people that we need to attend. And then twice a year we had an end of year report, annual performance report, that are giant documents. We are held accountable for every penny. Don't lose a penny, Pull down the money, spend the money, Why aren't you spending it fast enough? But make sure it's applicable, make sure it's reasonable. Make sure it's necessary. Make sure you prove it to us. Then all of those things are. But are you serving the people? How many people are you serving? It's this dichotomy of crazyville that kind of gets me going around pulling down the funds, spending the money, managing the budget, re managing the budget because you're just guessing when you say how much this is going to cost, you have no idea that the entire workforce is going to receive a 6.5% wage increase next year and another 6.5% wage increase after that. And you didn't write that into your grant and you don't know that travel is going to be exorbitant with inflation, all sorts of things that you have to constantly rebalance the funds and you have to write down absolutely everything you do with a DIF grant. So you have to say what you're going to do and then go do it and say what you're doing while you're doing it, and then say how you could have done it better and then say what you might do better in the future in this continuous cycle across 15 to 20 different work buckets and work plans that you have in place? Yeah. For every minute that you spend doing something, you spend another minute and a half writing about it, it feels like.   Carol: So yeah, I'm glad we brought this up because I know it's just the stark reality of it. And so I think folks sometimes get into the DIF grant and they don't understand this about, you know, you have line items in a budget and now we're going to go outside of this and we want to move money, but we got to get okay, you know, and all of these things because it's very different than the VR grant. So I think it's better for people to at least understand that going in that there is going to be this component. So if you're able to build in, you know, someone that can help assist with some of this stuff as you're doing the project, which is the really cool stuff, you know, that you're trying to get done. But you have to remember there is this sort of a little bit of an administrative burden. And it's not just even a little bit, you know, it's kind of a, a lot bit, but it is sort of the price we pay to have these funds to do these cool different things.   Sabrina: Totally worth it. But yeah, go in with your eyes wide open. And if you don't have somebody that's done grant management or you have somebody that's strong in project management, think about the person that you need in that role to be able to pull that off for sure.   Carol: Yeah, good advice. Good advice. So of course we talk about the bummer things, but let's talk about something like what is like one of the coolest things that has happened to date. Do you have a fun story or something really cool? We want to leave people with like a happy thing.   Sabrina: Want to share two things because two things came to mind. The first thing that comes to mind is part of our initiative is to either develop or enhance existing career pathways in Oregon for people with disabilities. So make them more accessible, make them more anything that they could be to be working for the people that we serve. And so one of the things that they've done out in eastern Oregon is create this drone program. You know, those drones that go up in the air and fly over stuff. And so what that's done is it's allowed for people that want to work in agricultural fields and want to work with cattle, want to watch crops, want to work for an elk hunting operation, those sorts of things. They can now, without a lot of physical mobility, be able to run a drone, go check on their crops, go check on their cattle and their herds, run hunting programs and all sorts of things through this program that teaches people how to run these drones and how to work for companies that have these drones all over eastern Oregon, which I think is really cool. And we're having several people that have disabilities sign up for those programs in a way that because of this program, we're able to develop that and make that possible for them. So that feels really good.   Carol: That is very cool.   Sabrina: Yeah. But one of the cooler things that sort of hits me in the feels is just when an ICAP participant walks up to you and says, Before I had my career coach, I didn't have anyone. But with career coaches that understand my disability, I have gone from a 1.6 GPA to a 4.0 GPA, and I'm the first person in my family to ever go to college. Right? Those just, yup. that's why we all get up every day and we do this work and we keep plugging away at it and we try and make the world a little bit better for people. And so that's really what excites me. And it happens not just once, not just twice, but all the time.   Carol: That makes my heart happy. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Because we've thought about those navigators, other places we've had, but not here. Like what your spin on this has been super interesting. I love it.   Sabrina: What happens if that career coach understands disability, understands that unique lens? Gives grace. Just somebody that goes in and talks to the Accommodations office at the local community college on behalf of a student that can even troubleshoot it with a professor if it's not working out right, somebody that's physically there that they can just walk into their office and sit down and go, Hey, this is really hard. It's great. Those coaches, they're amazing.   Carol: That's great. So what are your next steps?   Sabrina: Next steps, Right. We're going to continue with our messaging. We really need to target in to get up to that 45% BIPOC number. With our recruiting strategies, there's not a lot of black indigenous people of color in Oregon. It's pretty low, 14.4% of the overall population. So that 45% is a big ask for us and they don't have a lot of warm, happy feelings about accessing VR in general or our larger human services offices that we're all located in. So that's a big deal. We are going to be onboarding three additional community colleges to start serving students this fall. We started out with the core ten. Now we're adding three more. So that's a big deal. We're going to continue to draw down those funds as quickly as we can, find new and inventive ways to braid funding more effectively so that we can use those client service dollars. And then really, the big thing on my mind that I worry about is figuring out a way for this to be sustainable. How do we get to retain those coaches long term in Oregon? We're going to prove that they matter and that they make a difference. How do we keep them? So that's on my to dos.   Carol: Well, I'm fully confident you're going to do it. All of it, because you are a get up and go kind of gal. So I so appreciate the work you're doing in Oregon. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us and share so our listeners can get a little glimpse into what's going on in Oregon. I think it's fun and that you guys have been willing to like you expose all your dirty laundry like where we were. You know, we're in the basement, we're going up. It's going to be so good for the people in your state. And I'm really excited. I hope you'll come back towards that last year when you have really fun results to share.   Sabrina: I hope so. I do hope so. That'd be great. I'd love to come back. Thank you, Carol, so much for inviting me. It's been fun. Thanks.   Carol: Have a great day.   Sabrina: Hey, you, too.   {Music} Speaker1: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time, brought to you by the VR TAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

During this week's episode of FOCUS, Fredderick Simmons discusses how Portland Community College (PCC) is bringing together siloed services to create a powerful one-stop shop for student success. Simmons is the Student Account Services Manager, overseeing PCC's relationships with Ellucian Banner and TouchNet. Since PCC's recent administrative reorganization, the school has put bettering student services at the top of their priorities with the “One Together, Together One” model. Simmons shares insights on the model and what steps PCC has taken towards greater student success. Unified for better student services Portland Community College serves students across four campuses in the Portland area. Until recently, each campus operated under its own president and budget, reporting to the district president. To create a unified student experience, PCC restructured to bring the four campuses under the leadership of one president, currently Dr. Adrien Bennings. PCC has since adopted a “One Together, Together One” model to re-engage and reshape their community. The initiative takes an all-hands-on-deck approach to support student success, extending to all departments, including student accounts services, financial aid, enrollment, and more. “You want to make sure that students are prepared in the classroom, and it's our job and our responsibility to make sure that they are financially settled outside of the classroom,” says Simmons. On-site flex schedule Part of PCC's new ideology extends to staffing. The institution wanted to find a way to serve students the best they could, while allowing faculty to have a hybrid work environment when possible. The answer came in the form of on-site flex scheduling, which uses account service data to identify three peak weeks each semester where students need increased on-campus faculty presence. The data showed the days and weeks that saw the most in-person student visits and made it possible for PCC to confidently maintain in-person office hours Monday-Thursday, while being remote-only on Fridays. Students are able to have their questions answered in person when they need it most, while faculty can enjoy a hybrid workplace outside of those three weeks. Zoom Rooms Staying true to PCC's new model, the way the institution communicated with students in need of help also needed an all-hands-on-deck update. As Simmons puts it, students want instant service. With Zoom Rooms, students can reach out to chat during business hours for immediate aid. Account service providers can then get on a Zoom call with students or transfer them to another department without having to start over with the chat's archive function. A resource beyond payments The student accounts team at PCC is also focused on serving students beyond taking payments. Simmons shared their vision is to be more involved during student orientation to provide educational resources on financial management skills by coaching students on budgeting and financial responsibility. Additionally, he hopes to better serve their ESOL students by considering the makeup of the student population while staffing the department. Looking forward As PCC continues to evolve their one-stop shop, Simmons is also excited about implementing TouchNet's newest solution, Student Account Advisor. This tool will further advance the one-stop shop mentality in the Answer Center by retrieving student account data regardless of which department it's stored in, so staff can have all the information they need to advise students successfully. Simmons believes the tool will break down barriers that both students and faculty experience, creating a better process. Simmons also shared what's next for the institution. Currently, the enrollment and orientation processes are being re-imagined to be more hands-on so students have more access to staff. Overall, Simmons says the school wants to be more mindful of the population they serve and strategize how to eliminate barriers in enrollment so more students can have the experience of “One Together, Together One.” Special Guest: Fredderick Simmons.

Ruth Lantz, a visual artist, educator and founder of Crit Connection, shares her perspective on cultivating community amongst artists. We highlight the importance of connecting with fellow creatives to engage in meaningful discussion, as well as the benefits of building organic relationships within the art world. Here's what we discuss:1. Why Ruth is interested in exploring space as it relates to landscape, and the current shift that is happening in the way we experience the world and visual imagery as technology continues to rise.2. Ruth's work as an educator, and how it's impacted her artistic practice.3. What inspired Ruth to launch Crit Connection, a platform that provides artists with the opportunity to grow their network and build powerful relationships.About RuthRuth Lantz, an Illinois-based artist, received her Masters in Visual Studies from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, OR in 2010. Her work has been featured nationally at numerous galleries and institutions, including the Rockford Art Museum (Rockford, IL), Russo Lee Gallery (Portland, OR), Washington State University Vancouver (Vancouver, WA), Governors State University (University Park, IL), St. Louis Artist's Guild (St. Louis, MO), Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL)  and Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN). Her work was showcased at the Portland International Airport and at the Fringe Festival at Southern Oregon University and she was a presenter in the “Making a Better Painting” Symposium at the Hoffman Gallery at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. Lantz is the founder of Crit Connection, a project providing networking opportunities and resources to emerging and mid-career artists. She currently teaches at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Portland Community College.Follow Ruth on Instagram: @ruthlantz + @critconnectionWebsite + email: ruthlantz.com + critconnection@gmail.com Visit our website: visionaryartcollective.comFollow us on Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag Join our newsletter:visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

PSU sees ripple effects of enrollment declines at Portland Community College. Tips for staying safe and warm during the winter storm. Closures and adjusted hours on Monday, Dec. 26. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Tyler is a plant-based cooking instructor, cookbook author, and writer. She teaches plant-based cooking classes for Portland and Mt. Hood Community Colleges in Oregon. In addition to her cook-along classes, she offers one-on-one plant-based lifestyle coaching through Portland Community College. Class descriptions are available here. Through her website, www.graciousvegan.com, Linda shares healthy plant-based recipes and answers to common questions about plant-based cooking. She uses no oil, refined grains, full-fat coconut milk, or refined sugar in her recipes, and she provides answers to questions such as “What's Wrong with Oil?” and “What is Water-Sauté?” Linda started a 30-Day Plant-Based Eating Habit Challenge program in January, focusing on research-based approaches to structuring and supporting new habits (using the books Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits). Information on the Challenge is here. Linda has published recipes in the Vegetarian Journal (now Vegan Journal); written guest blogs for Faunalytics.org; published articles on animal welfare issues for LA Progressive, Sentient Media, and Citizen Truth; and demonstrated plant-based recipes on local TV in Portland. She is a long-time volunteer for Nutritionfacts.org and is currently on the video review team. Connect with Linda on: Website: http://www.graciousvegan.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graciousvegan/ Email: graciousvegan@gmail.com

Episode 80 - Laura enjoys working with people who desire to pursue their financial goals. She brings energy and enthusiasm into her clients' financial decision-making process. Laura's commitment to client service is the foundation of her business. A naturally warm, caring, and enthusiastic approach proves her dedication and appreciation for her clients. Laura is a third-generation graduate of Oregon State University and has worked in financial services since 1985. Laura has Series 7 and Series 66 registrations. In addition, she is life and health Insurance licensed and a Stock Broker and Investment Advisor Representative. Laura honed her speaking skills at the local Toastmasters International. Along with the other advisors in the firm, she teaches classes throughout the year at Portland Community College and local businesses. She also teaches financial education classes at large community-based organizations. Laura, her husband, Rob, and their two adult children enjoy going on family trips and spending their summers together. Laura has been active in her children's lives, but now they are moving on to their own endeavors. This allows Laura to spend more time outdoors doing the activities she loves, including hiking, biking, backpacking, and taking their boat and RV out and about. You can find out more about Laura here: https://www.resourcefinancial.com/team/laura-holcombe  WEALTH: Not getting enough clients? Book a FREE 15-minute Client Acquisition Consultation with CEO | Carter Wilcoxson to learn how.  HEALTH: Low on energy or overweight? Go to www.chemicalfreebody.com/enrichers and grab GREEN 85 Juice Formula or book a FREE 30-minute Health Strategy Session with Tim or one of his coaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hoyle holds onto DeFazio's seat, other key Congressional races too close to call. Portland charter amendment appears headed to victory, Hardesty trails. Portland Community College bond passes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Download our FREE Guide on “How To Find Ultra High Net Worth Clients"” from https://financialadvisorsworkshop.com/ Laura Holcombe (https://www.resourcefinancial.com/) is a third generation graduate of Oregon State University and has worked in financial services since 1985. Laura has Series 7 and Series 66 registrations. She is life and health Insurance licensed as well as being a Stock Broker and Investment Advisor Representative. Laura honed her speaking skills at the local Toastmasters International, and along with the other advisors in the firm, she teaches classes throughout the year at Portland Community College and local businesses. She shares her secrets on building lasting relationships with new clients, anchored around trust, personality, and customer service. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-holcombe-cfp%C2%AE-07ba9999/ Website: https://www.finra.org/ Website: https://www.sipc.org/ Website: https://www.resourcefinancial.com/ To see short videos of all our best FA Business Growing tips follow us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FinancialAdvisorsWorkshop TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@faworkshop YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRh9BxjF0cT7PdkEhsg6lw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinancialAdvisorsWorkshop Twitter: https://twitter.com/FAsWorkshop iTunes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-advisors-workshop-with-brian-kasal/id1614768408 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OB78889GRx2FHjvWtsyeE Website: https://www.financialadvisorsworkshop.com/ Interested in working at FourStar: https://fourstarwealth.com/Advisors DISCLAIMER: This content is provided by FourStar Wealth Advisors for the general public and general information purposes only. This content is not considered to be an offer to buy or sell any securities or investments. Investing involves the risk of loss and an investor should be prepared to bear potential losses. Investment should only be made after thorough review with your investment advisor considering all factors including personal goals, needs and risk tolerance. FourStar is an SEC registered investment advisor that maintains a principal business in the state of Illinois. The firm may only transact business in states in which it has filed or qualifies for a corresponding exemption from such requirements. For information about FourStar's registration status and business operations please consult the firm's form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC investment advisory public disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov

In this week's Safe Home Podcast, Beth talks with Nicole Miller, a certified drug and alcohol counselor and coach from Oregon who teaches addiction pharmacology at Portland Community College. Even though she's very knowledgeable about all kinds of drugs, I brought her onto Safe Home Podcast to help us focus on fentanyl. It's such a dangerous drug, and deaths from fentanyl poisoning have skyrocketed in just the last 2 or 3 years. Our family really wants to raise awareness about fentanyl, so Nicole will help us all understand the risks and what we can all do to prevent deaths caused by fentanyl. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Helanna Johnson, our life coach Heather Ross's daughter who died in December 2021 from fentanyl poisoning. ===============

In this week's Safe Home Podcast, Beth talks with Nicole Miller, a certified drug and alcohol counselor and coach from Oregon who teaches addiction pharmacology at Portland Community College. Even though she's very knowledgeable about all kinds of drugs, I brought her onto Safe Home Podcast to help us focus on fentanyl. It's such a dangerous drug, and deaths from fentanyl poisoning have skyrocketed in just the last 2 or 3 years. Our family really wants to raise awareness about fentanyl, so Nicole will help us all understand the risks and what we can all do to prevent deaths caused by fentanyl. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Helanna Johnson, our life coach Heather Ross's daughter who died in December 2021 from fentanyl poisoning. ===============

Full Text: The ballot for November's election is filling up, and a lot of local governments are trying to reach into your pocket for more of your tax dollars. Some of them are real doozies, like Portland Community College's construction bond measure. In 2017, PCC voters approved $185 million in new property taxes for construction projects. In that Voters' Pamphlet, PCC boasted it had 78,000 students. Five years later, PCC now wants another $485 million of your money. In this year's Voters' Pamphlet, PCC reports it has only 50,000 students. In just five years, PCC has lost 28,000 students. It shouldn't be expanding; it should be shutting down campuses. PCC says some of the money will be used for “flexible hybrid learning options.” That means more online instruction and less in-class instruction. OPB reports 50% of PCC classes this fall will be a hybrid format. PCC doesn't need fancy building remodels if enrollment is down and many of its classes are taught online. PCC spent more than $6 million from the 2017 taxes to remodel a welding shop at its Rock Creek Campus. The welding shop remodel was completed just last year. Now, according to The Portland Tribune, PCC wants to use your tax money to tear down and rebuild the entire building. Apparently, that $6 million remodel was a waste of money. More money for modern buildings won't save PCC from declining enrollment. It's got bigger problems, and money management is one of them. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coffeewithcascade/message

In this week's episode, we connect with author, personal trainer & WIFA ambassador, Rachel Lavin.We talk about Her book The Doughnut DiariesBody Image and Body LoveThings we'd love to see differently in fitnessRachel Lavin is a Published author of The Doughnut Diaries, Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Health Coach. She grew up in Northern California and has lived in Hawaii, Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. She currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her Boyfriend. Rachel has been teaching group fitness classes since 2000.  She has taught dance classes, Aqua aerobics, stretch classes, Jazzercise and corporate Bootcamps until 2010. In 2006 Rachel graduated from Portland Community College with an Associates Degree in Applied Sciences and became an ACE certified Personal Trainer. Currently Rachel has been specializing in one on one Personal Training. Rachel creates a special bond with all of her clients. It is important for her to be their teammate as well as their cheerleader while teaching proper exercise technique.Rachel has been recovering from restrictive diets and binge eating and really wanted to share her story with the hope that she could reach as many people as possible who have had similar experiences. She wants to be an ally for the people all over the world with the hope that we can win this fight on how we see our bodies and to love our bodies unconditionally. Rachel believes that we are all in this together and no one is alone.  CONNECT WITH RachelWebsiteRachel on InstagramBuy the Doughnut DiariesCONNECT WITH Breaking Body BiasesBreaking Body Biases WebsiteBreaking Body Biases on InstagramBreaking Body Biases on FacebookHave a greater impact - Become a weight-inclusive fitness instructor

Have you ever wondered if there was a way you could slow down in your professional life while engaging in more meaningful work? On this show Meredith Farkas, Faculty Librarian at Portland Community College, shares how we can do this using slow librarianship - a concept with the characteristics of being good, humane, and thoughtful. It's not about creating mediocrity. It's about engaging in our best and most meaningful work.

In this episode, Judith Brauer with NISTS, interviews Tiara Freeman and Tsionah Novick. They discuss their experience with undergraduate research as transfer students as well as the findings from their research project, “Developing Community Interventions within Predominately White Institutions (PWI) Advising Departments for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Transfer Students.” Tiara Freeman | LinkedIn | InstagramTiara is a graduate of Portland State where she earned her B.S. in psychology with a concentration in neuroscience. She is a student co-investigator for a community psychology action research project that assessed how academic advising practices can act as important touch points for establishing BIPOC transfer students' sense of belonging while transitioning to a new university. Tiara is also a volunteer researcher within the Daily Affect, Drinking and Interpersonal Context Health Lab where she is interested in how environmental features may contribute to drinking and other health-related outcomes. She also volunteers for the NW Noggin Neuroscience Outreach Program. Her personal research interests include the restorative benefits of nature, burnout and technology, as well as intervention work designed to treat substance abuse. Tsionah Novick | LinkedIn | InstagramTsionah is a Portland Community College transfer student who completed her B.S. in Psychology and Social Science with a certificate in Community Psychology at Portland State University. Tsionah is also a first-generation and returning student. In addition to being a co-investigator for the Student Partners for Anti-Racist Advising, Tsionah is a Research Assistant in the Stigma, Resilience, Inequality, Identity, & Diversity (StRIID) Lab at PSU. Tsionah was recently admitted to the Community Development and Action M.Ed. program at Vanderbilt's Peabody College where she will be attending in 2023. Tsionah's research interests include the intersections of gender, religion, and wellness using qualitative research methods.Resources MentionedTiara and Tsionah's NISTS conference presentation “Developing Community Interventions within Predominately White Institutions (PWI) Advising Departments for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Transfer Students”Student Partners for Anti-Racist Advising (SPARA) WebsiteAdvisor Checklist for BIPOC Transfer Student Support #NISTS #TransferPride #TransferSuccess #TransferResearch #TransferAdvocacy  #TransferChampion #TNTalks #TransferNationKeep talking with Transfer NationIG: @WeAreTransferNationTikTok: @TransferNationTwitter: @TransferPrideFB Group: Transfer NationEmail: WeAreTransferNation@gmail.comTalk soon!Show CreditsHost | Judith BrauerGuest | Tiara Freeman, Tsionah NovickProducers | Sam Kaplan, Brandon RodríguezSound Editing | Abraham Urias

Oregonians will see a gun-control measure on the Oregon ballot; Portland Community College gets a new president; Athletes from Ukraine compete at the World Athletics Championships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 3, Episode 6:From Prison to Policy Changemaker with Morgan GodvinMorgan Godvin is a student at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health in Portland, where she was born and raised. She is a person in long-term recovery. As a harm reductionist, she performs syringe exchange, naloxone distribution, overdose prevention outreach, and infectious disease testing. In addition to her studies, she works as a freelance writer covering topics of drug policy and criminal justice. She received her Emergency Medical Technician certification from Portland Community College in 2012. While in active addiction she was arrested and jailed many times, eventually being sentenced to five years in federal prison. Her activism and advocacy now center around reducing the harms associated with drug use, preventing overdose death, and improving access to higher education in prison. She is a member of the Oregon Consortium for Higher Education in Prison.  She has been a consumer of harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services throughout the state. Her mother died of a prescription drug overdose in 2013 and she has lost many close friends to overdose. Merging lived experience with academic education and governmental action, she was confirmed to the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission in February of 2020.For more from Morgan, check out her website (https://www.morgangodvin.com/) and her work at Filter (https://filtermag.org/author/morgan-godvin/amp/). Check out Beats Overdose at their site https://beatsoverdose.com/.Jay and our good friends Savage Sisters are both finalists for the Best of Philly awards! To vote for Jay (which you can once a day until September) go to metrophillysbest.com/voting and under Arts and Entertainment scroll down to Philly Blogger. To vote for Savage Sisters, go to the same link and under Services you'll find the Not For Profit category. Thanks!Choose Your Struggle Presents: Made It, Season 1, Stay Savage dropped April 29th! Subscribe to Made It's stream! https://kite.link/choose-your-struggle-presents-made-itJay recently wrote an article for YES! Magazine: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/pleasure/2022/05/18/drugs-better-policy-help-reduce-overdosesLeave us a message for a chance to be played on the show and win a CYS schwag pack: https://podinbox.com/CYSToday's Good Egg:  Do something to honor Pride Month. Looking for someone to wow your audience now that the world is reopening? My speaking calendar is open! If you're interested in bringing me to your campus, your community group, your organization or any other location to speak about Mental Health, Substance Misuse & Recovery, or Drug Use & Policy, reach out to me at Info@jayShifman.com. Tank Tops are in! You can see what they look like on the website (thanks to Jay's wife for modeling the women's cut). Reach out through the website to order. If you're looking for something a little less expensive, magnets are in too! Check them out on the website or Instagram. Patreon supporters get a discount so join Patreon!But that's not all! You can now buy even more merch! Check out our store on Teepublic at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/choose-your-struggle?ref_id=24308 for shirts, mugs, stickers, phone cases, baby onesies and much, much more!Support the Podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChooseYourStruggle Leave us an audio message to share feedback and have a chance to be played on the show: https://podinbox.com/CYS Review the Podcast: https://ReviewThisPodcast.com/Choose-Your-Struggle.Support the Podcast, a different way: https://podhero.com/401017-ikv.Learn more about the Shameless Podcast Network: https://www.shamelessnetwork.com/ Our Partner Bookshop (Support Local Book Stores and the Podcast in the Process!): https://bookshop.org/shop/CYS Our Partner Road Runner (Use Code CYS for 10% off): www.roadrunnercbd.com/ref/CYS As always, you can find more at our links: https://jay.campsite.bio ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In the season finale of the All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast, host Marc Goldberg facilitates a panel discussion with leaders in Oregon who were instrumental in landmark legislation that funds Benefits Navigators at all 24 public community college and universities to help students access benefits and resources that will support them to complete college and gain careers with economic mobility. The panelists include: Venus Barnes, Organizer-Community Food Justice at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, Elizabeth Guzman Arroyo, Statewide Pathways to Opportunity and Community College STEP Consortia Director, Dan Haun, Director of Self Sufficiency Programs at the Oregon Department of Human Services, Emma Kallaway, former Government Relations Director at Portland Community College and Kate Kinder, State Strategies Director at the National Skills Coalition.These colleagues share their reflections on what led to the passage of Oregon House Bill 2835 highlighting the role student voices and broad-based coalition had in compelling policymakers to pass this inclusive, student-centered policy. Panelists also describe the implementation of the Benefits Navigators bill to date and related wins from Oregon's 2022 short legislative session.  

Craig Moody A life long Basketball fan, player, coach, Craig Moody started Shoot 360 with a vision of helping basketball players of all ages and skill levels improve. The idea for Shoot 360 really came when Craig was looking for basketball workout opportunities for his own kids. He realized there were limited or no opportunities to learn and practice skills of the game that utilized technology. Craig spent several years as both a high school and college basketball coach. As a head Coach at Columbia Christian High School in Portland, Oregon Craig led the Knights to the State Tournament every year as a head coach. Craig spent 9 years coaching at the collegiate level-6 yeas as the top assistant coach at Concordia University Portland, and then 3 years as the head coach at Cascade College in Portland, Oregon. Craig led Cascade College to the NAIA National Tournament in 2003 and a sweet 16 appearance. Brad Barbarick -Recent Hire for Shoot 360 as the Director of Coaching and Player Development -Long time college coach and professor. Head men's basketball coach at Concordia University Portland for 25 years (1994-2019). Taught both undergraduate & graduate courses at Concordia U. - Taught elementary physical education for seven years while working as a college assistant basketball coach -Varsity Girl's Tennis Coach Sam Barlow High School -All time wins leader in Concordia University Basketball with 366 -Coached Concordia U for 21 years in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and led the Cavs to three NAIA National Tournaments and a 195-158 Conference record -Helped transition Concordia U. Portland in 2015 from the NAIA to NCAA Division II and into the highly regarded Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). Head Coach in the GNAC 2015-2019. Resigned to pursue athletic administration -Served as the Director of Athletics at Portland Community College (2019-2022) helped transform the department, making significant improvements and changes to bolster the Panthers Athletics success. -Directed basketball camps for such notable coaches as John Wooden, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, George Karl, Boy's and Girl's Superstar Basketball Camps. -Also help start Big on the Block Post Camp and Hawaii Island College Prep Basketball Camp -Along with Shoot 360 founder and President Craig Moody started and ran Rip City Hoop Camp from 1991-2018 -Currently serve on the advisory board for Sport Coach America --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kevin-furtado/support

It's hard to imagine ever having been unaware of the concept of bullshit jobs, but David Graeber made it official and helped us understand their role in our economy. Bullshit jobs are not necessarily shit jobs, nor are they low wage jobs, or dirty jobs. Bullshit jobs are those that are meaningless. The person doing the bullshit job doesn't believe the work actually needs to get done. This week's guest, Erik Dean, has studied the nature of modern jobs within money manager capitalism. He points out that bullshit jobs aren't just a product of neoliberalism: “Speculative business and these labor hierarchies of the people with secure jobs versus the precariat … those things have been around. and it's not even necessarily part of capitalism. This is one reason it's good to read Thorstein Veblen, because in an anthropological sense, he takes it back to prior to capitalism. It's not like we didn't have hierarchies before capitalism. It's not like we didn't have power and it's not like we didn't have bullshit jobs. What the hell is a court jester? It's a bullshit job to entertain the king or whatever.” Dean talks with Steve about financialized capitalism – money market capitalism – and his disagreements with many on its basic characteristics. Just as bullshit jobs existed prior to our contemporary world, so did some of its other qualities, including its speculative nature and “short termism.” It was once thought that technology would relieve us of onerous jobs, allowing a shorter, lighter workweek, exchanging bullshit jobs for socially useful work. Steve confesses skepticism about the possibility of such a revolution. Dean responds: “If we were capable individually and collectively to reimagine what work is, what your time is best spent doing, and to break free of that encroaching neoliberal finance capitalist ideology that is, again, just gradually soaking into how we think about everything. To some extent, that is a revolution. If you can change the way you think and break free of the wider education of this neoliberalist ideology, that itself is a revolution.” **Don't forget to check out the transcript for this and every episode of Macro N Cheese as well as the Extras page with additional resources. Find them at realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast/ Erik Dean is an Instructor of Economics at Portland Community College and researcher at the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. His core expertise is in heterodox production theory, institutionalist methodology, and pedagogy in economics. His recent research covers a range of topics, including the nature of the modern occupational structure and the place of the corporation in money manager capitalism and the ramifications thereof.

This is part II of this All In: Student Pathways Forward episode that includes the second half of an interview by host Marc Goldberg with Portland Community College (PCC) President Mark Mitsui and then a conversation with Kermit Kaleba, the Strategy Director for Employer Aligned Credential Programs at Lumina Foundation.Both President Mitsui and Kermit share reflections on the featured interview in part I with PCC Career Pathways student Shalease Williams. President Mitsui speaks further on the systemic barriers students face and how the statewide Pathways to Opportunity Initiative is helping Oregon community college students maximize benefits and resources, especially students experiencing basic needs insecurity. Kermit discusses the Lumina Foundation's commitment to racial equity and how the Foundation is investing in various state and college projects that support adult students in earning quality stackable credentials leading to good jobs. He highlights great work in Oregon with the STEP (SNAP Employment and Training) grant in which Shalease and many other students have accessed while taking coursework at the community college.  The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon's participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network. 

Mike Grant recently published a book called (Re)Making A Sandwich. It's a creative nonfiction memoir that follows him for 6 years as he goes through treatment to fulfill the requirements of an intensive diversion program for habitual drunk drivers. Early in his recovery he started running as a way to manage emotions and stress. He was running to parks with his son who was 4 when he got sober, which was about a 1/2 mile away. He kept at it and in his 9.5 years of recovery he has run 6 marathons, 2 50 mile races, and completed his first 100 mile ultra marathon this past August. He also went back to school to work in addiction, he has his LCSW and is a certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He has partnered with the Alano Club here in Portland to create a running club called RUN TRG. The TRG stands for The Recovery Gym which is a gym that is funded by a SAMSHA grant which provides free CrossFit classes for people who identify in recovery 3 times a day M-F and a class on Saturday. Part of the grant allows for a running club which we created. They have 3 organized runs per week that are led by an amazing coach and myself. They have races that they train for as a group and individual races as well. If you are doing the training runs the club will help cover the cost of the races to get people training for events. It's the best recovery he has been a part of. They're like family, people are meeting goals and pushing themselves to do things that they didn't know they were capable of. Plus they have almost no one relapse, which is the real goal right! Mike is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He currently works as an addiction therapist for Kaiser Permanente and as an adjunct professor in the Alcohol and Drug Counseling Program at Portland Community College. Mike received his Bachelors and Master of Social Work degrees from Portland State University. Mike is a member of the RUN TRG running group for people who identify in recovery. Mike enjoys training for ultra-marathons in his spare time and has recently completed both a 100 and 50 mile endurance race. Mike is working towards starting a private practice called Aid Station Sports Performance Therapy to help people meet performance goals in 2022. Mike lives with his son in Portland, Oregon.

In the latest All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast episode, host Marc Goldberg interviews Portland Community College Career Pathways student Shalease Williams as well as President Mark Mitsui. Shalease speaks passionately about the value of stackable credentials for adult students and lifts up the resources and holistic faculty and staff support that are essential for adult and parenting students. President Mitsui reflects on the interview with Shalease and elaborates on the systemic barriers students face and solutions like Oregon's statewide Pathways to Opportunity initiative and Career Pathways framework. This two part episode will also feature additional insights from the Lumina Foundation's Kermit Kaleba, who discusses the organization's commitment to racial equity and how the foundation is investing in various state and college projects that support adult students to earn quality stackable credentials, increasing college completion and access to good jobs.The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon's participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network. 

Balance spiritual growth and higher education with Shawn Daley, the Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer at George Fox University. Shawn elevates higher education by integrating worship and belief into classes, research, and student-professor relationships. At George Fox University, Shawn ensures students can pursue knowledge on behalf of the gospel.“Every day should be teaching you something about the mission that you have and what you're doing on this earth” - Shawn DaleyLearn more about Shawn's experiences with belief in higher education, and tune into Shawn's journey starting as a teacher to becoming the Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer at George Fox University.From 2010 to 2020, Shawn was Associate Professor of Education at Concordia University in Portland, a former Christian university. As Associate Professor, Shawn taught and trained graduate and undergraduate students in various topics.In 2013, Shawn founded Seven Keys Consulting, an education advisory group which emphasizes the integration of technology into education. A recent project in 2020 was “executing virtual and mixed reality pilot programs for Portland Community College.” Even as Shawn furthers his career into higher education, he remains active and relevant in Seven Keys Consulting.After receiving his Master of Arts in History from Portland State University in 2015, Shawn served as the Director of Innovation at St. Mary's Academy. Here, Shawn consulted new programs to develop a new downtown Portland school structure.In 2017, Shawn became Executive Vice President of Business Development and Innovation at Concordia University in Portland, where he had been teaching as an Associate Professor. Shawn oversaw the five university departments: Information Technology Services, University Research and Analytics, External Affairs, Project Management, and Strategic Communications. In 2020, the board voted to close down Concordia University-Portland, and Shawn managed the successful and efficient closing of the beloved university.Since September of 2020, Shawn has been the Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer at George Fox University.More from Shawn's Linkedin:I am a passionate leader who wants to harness the power of human creativity to solve the world's greatest problems. I have worked for over 20 years in educational environments, where I have regularly marveled at the ingenuity of students and instructors who want to transform this world for the better. I have run classrooms, departments, and divisions for two different universities, and am ready to adapt to the needs of my organization to serve its highest needs.My experiences with design thinking and innovation have fostered an appreciation for perpetually asking what might be, if we collaborate effectively, grant each other psychological safety, and seek out the most diverse set of perspectives to color our collective enterprise. I also believe in continuous improvement, not for the mere sake of efficiency, but because of what models like Lean can provide for each employee's self-improvement.I am an active scholar, working to understand the implications of new technologies on learning environments, and would not hesitate to try on a new head-mounted display to see what new realities have in store for learning.I want to link like-minded creatives to each other, so that they can cooperate toward building the next company, product or opportunity that improves our human community.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-daley-4827612a/Company Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/school/george-fox-university/

Nedra is a marketing coach with 20+ years of business experience, including working with over 200 businesses on their websites and marketing decisions. She has been in a variety of roles such as business owner, web designer, project manager, consultant, teacher, mentor and contributor. Nedra loves teaching at the Small Business Development Center at Portland Community College and especially the lasting, amazing connections to my students over the years. To contact Nedra:Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nrezinas/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nrezinasconsulting/***************************************************************************If you'd like to talk to Terry McDougall about coaching or being a guest on Marketing Mambo, here's how you can reach her:https://www.terrybmcdougall.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/terrybmcdougallTerry@Terrybmcdougall.comCoaching Community:  https://www.subkit.com/coachterryHer book Winning the Game of Work: Career Happiness and Success on Your Own Terms is available at Amazon. 

FEATURED GUESTS: Dr. Reji Mathew, PhD, LCSW is an integrative, neuroscience-informed, social work psychotherapist; a narrative freelance journalist; a digital artist; and an expressive arts advocate. As a freelance narrative journalist (ASJA member). she works on a wide range of human-interest issues that focus on health recovery, the arts, and resiliency. Understanding place and context are central values in her writing. Her storytelling is informed by her education in academia, mental health, social work and community advocacy. She has written for PBS: Next Avenue, Coping with Cancer Magazine, the United Brain Association, Post-Polio Health International, and ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy Practitioners. In her counseling work, her primary worldview is a bio-psycho-social narratology (narrative therapy) lens, inspired by her background in narrative journalism. It is crucial for her to understand people in the context of their environment in real time (cultural time). Her narrative lens is intersectional with a commitment to understanding the complex identities we hold along, class, culture, location, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and accessibility. Sara Tsutsumi, LMHC, LCAT obtained her BA in psychology from Boston University and her MA in Expressive Therapy from Lesley University. She was born with partial sight, but when she was 8, she became totally blind. She is a seasoned psychotherapist who utilizes Gestalt Therapy techniques and Expressive Arts Therapy approaches working with bilingual (Japanese & English speakers) and the general population for family/personal relationship issues, adjustment, bicultural issues, depression, eating disorder, anxiety and traumas with adults and seniors. She employs guided-imagery, dance/movement, visual arts, music as a way of connecting the person to their own power and insight. Her uniquely empathic listening ability and positive acceptance of individual's wellness is the hallmark of her style. She has a private practice conveniently located in the middle of Greenwich Village, NY. Marshall Lyles, LMFT-S, LPC-S, RPT-S, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, has 20 years of practice in family and play therapy. Drawing on lessons learned from working with attachment trauma in a variety of mental health settings, Marshall regularly teaches on sandtray therapy, other expressive modalities such as poetry, and attachment-informed family work around the globe. In addition to co-authoring the book Advanced Sandtray Therapy: Digging Deeper into Clinical Practice, he is also a faculty member in Texas State University's Institute for Play Therapy Sandtray Certification program and teaches in the Interpersonal Neurobiology program at Portland Community College. RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE SHOW: http://www.rejimathewphd-writer.com/ https://www.saratsutsumi.com/ www.marshalllyles.com Link to YouTube video: https://youtu.be/33VENfRB7DU

The Hillsboro School District and Portland Community College have teamed up to offer a training program for high schoolers. The Oregon Aerospace Careers for Everyone Program offers students a pathway to aviation careers. The program aims to diversify the aviation industry. Sheri Fisher is a high school teacher for the program and Ivette Alonso Garcia is a student enrolled in the program. They join us with details.

In this very timely episode, I interview former police lieutenant Rich Goerling who, now retired from long-service in the military and law enforcement, is a frequently sought after consultant and trainer for bringing mindfulness and compassion skills to police departments across the country. Join our conversation as we pursue understanding of the painful puzzles of race, policing and social change in current times of division and how mindfulness and compassion skills are ripe for creating authentic bridges and foundations of true understanding and healing for all. About Rich: Rich Goerling is a certified mindfulness trainer, a retired police officer and military veteran who believes in your innate resilience, humanity and capacity to show up and thrive amidst hard circumstances. Rich specializes in training health, resilience and human performance skills to first responders and other high reliability professionals. Rich has developed a training specialization in first responder mindset, health, resiliency and human performance. Over the last decade, he spearheaded the introduction of mindfulness skills training into policing as part of a larger cultural transformation toward a compassionate, skillful and resilient humanitarian ethos. Rich served in civilian law enforcement for twenty four years and has extensive experience in patrol operations and criminal investigations. He retired from policing in 2019 at the rank of lieutenant at a police agency in Oregon. Rich also served as a member of the United States Coast Guard for 27 years, both active and reserve, and retired in 2015 at the rank of Commander while assigned to Coast Guard Sector Charleston, SC. Rich is a co-investigator and trainer in ongoing National Institutes of Health funded research on the impact of mindfulness training for police officers. He holds an affiliate assistant professor appointment at Pacific University in the School of Graduate Psychology. Rich also holds an adjunct faculty position at Portland State University in the Hatfield School of Government where he teaches leadership ethics in the Criminology and Criminal Justice program. Rich has earned an undergraduate degree in economics and a graduate degree in business administration. He has completed a year-long mindfulness training program at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles and is a certified mindfulness facilitator (CMF). Rich also completed an intensive training in the Foundations of Interpersonal NeuroBiology at the Institute for Health Professionals at Portland Community College. One of Rich's current projects is being trained by a Therapy K9 named Buddha so they can work as a team to bring joy and mindfulness skills to responders and veterans. Learn more about Rich and his work at www.mindfulbadge.com. You can find Rich here: Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn

Portland Community College announced this week it will not require COVID-19 vaccinations for students and faculty. Eric Blumenthal is the Vice President for Finance and Administration for Portland Community College and a member of the college's COVID-19 Opening Leadership Team. He joins us with details on the college's decision.

In this Intro episode, I have the chance to speak with Melissa Johnson from the National Skills Coalition and Kate Kinder from Portland Community College to set the stage for this new podcast centered on elevating Oregon community college student voices to shape inclusive policies, programs and partnerships. The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon's SkillSPAN advocacy work with National Skills Coalition and tied to the broad statewide Pathways to Opportunity coalition that is helping students maximize benefits and resources to complete college and gain economic mobility. Listen in to hear some really helpful context setting and overall insights from Melissa and Kate before I begin chatting with Oregon community college students in upcoming episodes.

College enrollment is on a decline across Oregon. Community colleges have been hit the hardest, with an overall 23% enrollment decline, compared to 3.8% across all institutions. This could spell lasting consequences for both the colleges and students. We speak with administrators from Clatsop Community College and Portland Community College about the factors behind the enrollment decline and how it will impact higher education.

Nadi Hana Part 2: Channelling, Letting Go, and The Archturian Message (S1:E43) In this episode we get to finish our two part conversation with artist, teacher, geometrist, and as you'll learn today, channel for The Archturians, Nadi Hana.  Nadi is a Portland-based artist, teacher and geometrist. She has been sharing her knowledge about Sacred Geometry, Crop Formations and Human Consciousness through public presentations since 2015.   Nadi is an instructor of drawing Sacred Geometry at Portland Community College, and she offers group classes and private instruction.  She has been a crop circle enthusiast since 2010.  Since then, the advanced technologies of the formations have activated her capacity to be of planetary service in humanity's collective evolution.    She currently offers international calls sharing the intelligence and technologies of Advanced Civilizations and Galactic Councils.  She shares transmissions for the activation of human consciousness, including channeled information, access codes to DNA activation,  and neural pathway reconstruction and Light Language. Nadi's passion to be of service in the Collective Awakening of humanity manifests in her artwork and teaching the intelligence of our Galactic Community. Learn more about Nadi and her work at www.GalacticRoseGeometry.com

Nadi Hana is a Portland-based artist, teacher and geometrist. She has been sharing her knowledge about Sacred Geometry, Crop Formations and Human Consciousness through public presentations since 2015.     Nadi is an instructor of drawing Sacred Geometry at Portland Community College, and she offers group classes and private instruction.    She has been a crop circle enthusiast since 2010.  Since then, the advanced technologies of the formations have activated her capacity to be of planetary service in humanity's collective evolution.      She currently offers international calls sharing the intelligence and technologies of Advanced Civilizations and Galactic Councils.  She shares transmissions for the activation of human consciousness, including channeled information, access codes to DNA activation,  and neural pathway reconstruction and Light Language.   Nadi's passion to be of service in the Collective Awakening of humanity manifests in her artwork and teaching the intelligence of our Galactic Community.